A review of the book 'Revolutionaries : The Other Story of How India Won Its Freedom' written by Sanjeev Sanyal.
The history of India's struggle for freedom is usually told from the perspective of the non-violent movement. Yet, the story of armed resistance to colonial occupation is just as important. Names such as Vinayak Savarkar, Aurobindo Ghosh, Rashbehari Bose, Bagha Jatin, Sachindra Nath Sanyal, Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad and Subhas Chandra Bose are still widely remembered.
Revolutionaries tells their story, one that is replete with swashbuckling adventure, intrigue, espionage, incredible bravery, diabolical treachery and shockingly unpredictable twists of fate.
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Coming up: A review of the book 'Revolutionaries : The Other Story of How India Won Its Freedom' written by Sanjeev Sanyal.
Namaste Friends. My name is 'Shinil Subramanian Payamal' and you are listening to the Historylogy podcast.
Before I proceed, a full disclosure: This book was bought with my own money and not been provided to me by the author or publisher. Also, there is a special rendition of ‘Vande Maratam’ by Omik Shikhare after the review is over. Please do listen to it!
Little bit about the author. Sanjeev Sanyal is a writer, economist and urbanist. He grew up in Kolkata and attended Delhi University before going to Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. He then spent two decades in international financial markets, where he became the managing director and global strategist of Europe’s largest bank. He was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2010. While living in Singapore, he also took up the study of cities and was awarded the Eisenhower Fellowship for his work on urban dynamics.
In 2017, he joined the Indian government as the principal economic adviser. He became a member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s economic advisory council in 2022. He has represented India in many international forums, including as co-chair of the Framework Working Group of G20 for five years.
His bestselling books include Land of the Seven Rivers: A Brief History of India’s Geography, The Ocean of Churn: How the Indian Ocean Shaped Human History and Life over Two Beers.
Let me read what is written on the inside flap of the book cover.
The history of India's struggle for freedom is usually told from the perspective of the non-violent movement. Yet, the story of armed resistance to colonial occupation is just as important. Names such as Vinayak Savarkar, Aurobindo Ghosh, Rashbehari Bose, Bagha Jatin, Sachindra Nath Sanyal, Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad and Subhas Chandra Bose are still widely remembered. Their story is almost always presented as acts of individual heroism and not as part of a wider movement that had any overarching strategy or significant impact on the overall struggle for Independence. In reality, the revolutionaries were part of a large network that sustained armed resistance against the British Empire for half a century. They not only created a wide network inside India but also established nodes in Britain, France, Thailand, Germany, Persia, Russia, Italy, Ireland, the United States, Japan and Singapore. At various points, they received official support and recognition from the governments of some of these countries. Even the internal dynamics of the Indian National Congress of the time cannot be understood without the revolutionaries, who enjoyed widespread support within the organization. This was no small-scale movement of naïve individual heroism but one that involved a large number of extraordinary young men and women who were connected in multiple ways to each other and to the evolving events of their times. Revolutionaries tells their story, one that is replete with swashbuckling adventure, intrigue, espionage, incredible bravery, diabolical treachery and shockingly unpredictable twists of fate.
Starting with the book review, it’s nice to know that the author has taken the pains to visit almost all the sites mentioned in the book. Something not many writers do.
Let me quote a couple of paragraphs from Page 6:
It should not be surprising that mainstream narratives have tended to ignore the revolutionary movement. Despite their enormous contribution, virtually none of their important leaders would live to see India gain independence—many of them killed in gunfights, hanged from the gallows or dying in prison. Aurobindo Ghosh and Vinayak Savarkar, the only two surviving senior leaders, had drifted away from the movement decades earlier. The political leaders of post-independence India, therefore, were almost entirely drawn from the INC, and it was inevitable that they would stress their own place in history.
Interestingly, Sachindra Nath Sanyal had had a premonition in the 1920s that the history of the revolutionary movement would be deliberately sidelined. In the preface of his famous book Bandi Jeevan (‘A Life in Prison’), he clearly states that the reason for his writing the book was not merely to inspire contemporary revolutionaries but also to leave behind a personal testimony for future generations. ‘I am writing this book so that in future a few chapters of Indian history can be correctly written.’
I learnt about quite a few things for the first time. Some of them are:
- Shivaji Utsav (the Festival of Shivaji) popularised by Bal Gangadhar Tilak.
- Aurobindo Ghosh who is today remembered mostly as the philosopher and yogi Sri Aurobindo was also one of the founders of India’s freedom movement. There is an entire chapter of around 25 pages dedicated to Sri Aurobindo, showing the transformation from a revolutionary to the Saint of Pondicherry.
- Manabendra Nath Roy was the real founder of Indian Communism.
- How British officials such as Allan Ocatavian Hume of the Indian Civil Service who were increasingly concerned about how growing dissatisfaction in the early 1880s would lead to a repeat of the revolt of 1857. Hume took it upon himself to convince his colleagues in the administration that a safety valve was needed. Hume after retirement in 1882, dedicated the next few years to creating such a safety valve. He had the direct blessings of Lord Dufferin, the new governor general of India.
Hume reached out to several of the leading educated Indians of the time, and began to build a common platform. After a few iterations, this led to the formation of the Indian National Congress in December, 1885.
- How Sayaji Gaekwad broke all etiquette rules while paying homage to King-Emperor George V during the Delhi Durbar of 1911.
- How the Great Famine of 1877 triggered a new phase of discontent across India. Taking inspiration from Chhatrapati Shivaji, a charismatic speaker Vasudev Balwant Phadke decided to organise a rebel group in Maharashtra.
- Following the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1839, his kingdom quickly descended into turmoil as members of the Punjabi nobility fought among themselves. Despite fresh memories of the bitterly fought Anglo-Sikh wars, the Sikhs remained loyal to the British cause during the Revolt of 1857. Therefore, the colonial administration decided that the Sikh elite, and more generally the Punjabi elite, could be useful native allies.
As part of this strategy, the British invested systematically in a Sikh identity, which was distinct from its Hindu roots.
- There is an entire chapter of about 36 pages on Kala Paani and the Cellular Jail. The chapter tells us how the British recognised the possibility of using one of the islands of Andaman and Nicobar as a penal colony for convicts from the Indian mainland.
- Jallianwala Bagh massacre and how the British press and prominent individuals such as Rudyard Kipling were almost entirely in Dyer’s camp. The dominant British view was that Dyer had saved the empire from another 1857.
- The Moplah riots of 1921 which took place in Malabar where a section of local Muslims—known as the Moplahs or Mapillas—directed their ire at the Hindu population.
- The Rampa Rebellion among the forest tribes of the Eastern Ghats in what is now Andhra Pradesh whose leader was Alluri Seetha Rama Raju. This is also the inspiration behind the movie RRR.
- How Sachindra Nath Sanyal was sent back to Port Blair after the Kakori Conspiracy Case sentences, the only person to have been sent to the dreaded Cellular Jail twice.
- How the Communist Party of India was founded in Tashkent on 17th October, 1920.
- The founding of the RSS
- Bose on reasons why Communism will not be adopted in India.
- How Udham Singh avenged the Jallianwala massacre
- How there were two views in the INC on joining the British in fighting in World War I. On one side was Nehru and on the other side was Subhas Bose.
- The Atlantic Charter of 1941 and how Churchill dashed Indian hopes that it did not apply to India which was blatant hypocrisy and caused a breakdown of trust.
- Bose meeting Hitler and how it did not go well. Hitler not committing to a declaration about Indian Independence. Bose then asked Hitler to withdraw racist references to Indians in Mein Kampf.
- The Bengal Famine and how the Communists were one of the biggest political beneficiaries as allies of the government during the war, they stayed out of jail, blamed the hoarders as class enemies and helped distribute whatever little relief was available.
- The INA trials after the war ended and how the British decided to make an example of the ‘traitors’ through a series of high-profile trials at the Red Fort in Delhi, followed by exemplary punishments.
- The Naval Mutiny of 1946 gets a reasonable space of about 12 pages. It will always be a mystery as to why this important historical event has been excluded by and large from our history textbooks. As Sachindra Nath Sanyal had expressed his fear that future generations would not be told the truth about what the revolutionaries had done. The way the Naval mutiny and many other major events and characters have been systematically scrubbed out of public memory is a perfect example of this. It is very obvious that this was not just a case of passive, wilful memory loss, but an active effort backed by the State over the decades. In 1965, the Congress Chief Minister of West Bengal P. C. Sen made every effort to disallow a Bengali play by Utpal Dutt named Kallol about the Naval Mutiny. The playwright even ended up in jail for a few months.
- In the Epilogue, there is a mention of a proposal put forward by Sarat Chandra Bose, Subhas’s elder brother, and Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy, the Muslim League premier of Bengal, for the creation of a united, independent Bengal. The argument was that this would avoid the partition of the province.
- There is also a mention of many former revolutionaries suffering from what we today call post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Several found it difficult to hold regular jobs and drifted into a life of extreme poverty. It is really sad to know about how they had just been abandoned.
- The book also covers the Marichjhapi massacre and how it has been systematically covered up for decades in both media and academia.
- The birth of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) which is now known as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is also covered.
- On a personal note, I am really grateful to the author for explaining the difference between the CPI and the CPI(M). I used to always wonder about this as, for me, all Communists are the same!
To conclude, I would like to say that Mr. Sanjeev Sanyal has done a commendable job in bringing to the fore stories of so many unknown revolutionaries. Hopefully they will find (more) in our school and college textbooks someday. I give this book 4.5/5. The printed price of this book is Rs. 599/- but at the time of recording this podcast, it is available at a discount for around Rs. 450/- on both, Amazon India and Flipkart. I will provide the respective buy links and other related stuff in the show notes.
Last but not the least, thank you for spending your valuable time listening to this book review. Really grateful. Please don't forget to subscribe to the Historylogy podcast on your favourite podcasting app and also feel free to leave a review.
Also, please check historylogy.com for all previous episodes. Thanks and looking forward to hearing from you. And as a reminder, please don’t forget to listen to the special rendition of Vande Mataram after the review is over. Jai Hind! Vande Mataram!